Children as Economic Agents

Abstract

A generational perspective recognizes that children have preferences which may differ systematically from those of adults, and, furthermore, that a children's standpoint should be recognized by scholars and activists and incorporated into policy targeted at children and their families. Economics has not considered children as agents because of their lack of power relative to adults. The implications of recognizing children's agency are explored for the case of children's paid and unpaid labor force and household work.Child Agency, Child Labor, Unpaid Work,

Know Your Place: Ethiopian Children’s Contributions to the Household Economy

“…This is especially notable in the economics literature. Levison (2000) has challenged the conception of children as passive members of the family. Moehling (2005) provides perhaps the only evidence thus far in this body of work that children's income from work may increase their bargaining power within the household.…”

O impacto do trabalho infantil no setor agrícola sobre a saúde

“…Uma diferenciação é que, 4 Segundo Kassouf (2002), em algumas regiões, a infância refere-se à idade cronológica, enquanto em outras se leva em consideração fatores sócio-culturais e, portanto, a legislação que trata do trabalho infantil também varia de um país para outro. Para a OIT (Organização Internacional do Trabalho), crianças são indivíduos com menos de 15 ou 14 anos em alguns países do terceiro mundo (Levison, 2000). No Brasil, crianças são aqueles que possuem menos de 12 anos (Art 2º do Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente, Lei 8.069 de 13 de julho de 1990).…”

Editorial

“…This needs to be extended to economists' thinking too, but in a way that understands children as beings in the here and now, not simply as developing future human capital (Levison, 2000). This is not the first time that an editor of Childhood has called for re-visioning.…”